Rate top gamesI'm writing this review about 2 years after completing Pillars of Eternity, so my memory of it is a bit hazy. I mostly have fond memories of my single 100 hour playthrough, which sometimes felt more like reading a good novel than really playing a game.
Pillars of Eternity is a cRPG. If you're unfamiliar with the term, it means the game has similarities to pen and paper roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons or Pathfinder. Unlike those games, however, Pillars of Eternity was designed from the ground up to be played digitally, so you won't be bogged down by some of the awkwardness that comes along with playing a tabletop digitally. This doesn't mean the system is easy to pick up, however. It will require a lot of reading of in-game tutorials, glossaries of terms, and help menus. Fortunately, all of this is in-game and won't require you to look anything up online. You can also pause the game at any time to micromanage your party's actions, reminiscent of Dragon Age: Origins.
The game's narrative plays like an oldschool "choose your own adventure" book, with stat checks and dialogue options and choices scattered throughout every encounter. If you've played Fallout: New Vegas, you're familiar with the caliber of writing Obsidian is capable of when it comes to branching narratives, and Pillars of Eternity is no exception. There are moral quandaries as well as more simple decisions, and the main scenarios are voice-acted to boot. There's one encounter in the DLC that I disliked (assigning a motive to one of my decisions that didn't exist), but aside from that I never felt like I was unable to stay in character.
There is a lot more to talk about in this game, like the stunning visuals, the bleak atmosphere, the fantastic DLC, the mysteries of Eora, dungeon crawling, dragons and wizards, basebuilding, and the like-able (or not so like-able) cast. In the end, its just a stellar roleplaying game that I enjoyed getting immersed in every night.
Get into character and forget the real world exists for a little bit. Don't rush the experience, and enjoy it like you would a good book.
Pillars of Eternity is a cRPG. If you're unfamiliar with the term, it means the game has similarities to pen and paper roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons or Pathfinder. Unlike those games, however, Pillars of Eternity was designed from the ground up to be played digitally, so you won't be bogged down by some of the awkwardness that comes along with playing a tabletop digitally. This doesn't mean the system is easy to pick up, however. It will require a lot of reading of in-game tutorials, glossaries of terms, and help menus. Fortunately, all of this is in-game and won't require you to look anything up online. You can also pause the game at any time to micromanage your party's actions, reminiscent of Dragon Age: Origins.
The game's narrative plays like an oldschool "choose your own adventure" book, with stat checks and dialogue options and choices scattered throughout every encounter. If you've played Fallout: New Vegas, you're familiar with the caliber of writing Obsidian is capable of when it comes to branching narratives, and Pillars of Eternity is no exception. There are moral quandaries as well as more simple decisions, and the main scenarios are voice-acted to boot. There's one encounter in the DLC that I disliked (assigning a motive to one of my decisions that didn't exist), but aside from that I never felt like I was unable to stay in character.
There is a lot more to talk about in this game, like the stunning visuals, the bleak atmosphere, the fantastic DLC, the mysteries of Eora, dungeon crawling, dragons and wizards, basebuilding, and the like-able (or not so like-able) cast. In the end, its just a stellar roleplaying game that I enjoyed getting immersed in every night.
Get into character and forget the real world exists for a little bit. Don't rush the experience, and enjoy it like you would a good book.
Other reviews6
I really wish I could rate it as exceptional. The world setting is intriguing, and the quests are interesting. However, there are several aspects of this game that are confusing.
For instance, there are numerous nations residing on different continents with complex relationships, but unfortunately, there is no official map available to help visualize the bigger picture. I stumbled upon a fan-made attempt to replicate the world, accompanied by a note stating that the developers do not intend to release an official map in order to keep room for future modifications. This lack of a comprehensive map hindered my ability to fully immerse myself in the fiction.
The second issue concerns the combat mechanics and equipment stacking, which come with various effects. It was only during the middle of the game when I found a subreddit post containing a guide that explained these mechanics. Once I had a better understanding, the experience improved significantly. Perhaps the game provided some notes or encyclopedia pages, but in my opinion, it fell short in effectively teaching players about these mechanics, which are key to enjoying the game.
Lastly, I was truly disappointed that once you follow the main quest and complete it, the game abruptly ends. I wasn't even aware that I was approaching the final chapter, as I had been planning to pursue other quests after finishing the current location. While there was a mention of a point of no return, I interpreted it to mean that you couldn't travel between locations until the quest was finished, but you could continue playing afterward. However, to my dismay, the game simply concludes without any further playability. Although it is possible to load an auto-save, I felt as though my story had already been disrupted, which led to a loss of motivation to continue playing.
«That ending!»
«OST on repeat»
Translated by
Microsoft from Deutsch
Microsoft from Deutsch
A first-class Game.
Amazing that something like this is possible about Kickstarter. Pillars of Eternity seems like a Gaming-forged has caught a particularly good Day.
In Terms of Look and Feel, the Similarity to Baldur's Gate in Gameplay, etc., everything is already in the Comments. Therefore, rather a few further comments: It is probably a good Idea-with strict spoiler discipline-to look at the general History Of the World Eora, its Continents, its peoples, religions, Its Important historical Personalities, so ' the Story so far ' Watch in a Pillars wiki before you start playing. Because the Game starts in the Middle of the Game world, there is no thematic Prepoonises.All The characters and also the Companions are deeply interwoven into the Game world and not only run in this Round. It makes Sense to bring a little bit of "General Education" with you with you with you in terms of the Game world and not to wait until you have clung them together from the Books you find ' In Game ' bit by bit.
As a pure Hack & Slash, you can NOT play a Game of that Depth anyway. Dialogues and Decisions play a big Role and Events have a History. The Quarter of An Hour it takes to orient yourself roughly in terms of the Game world and The Background is well invested.
What you should also know: This Game has a strong philosophical-theological Touch-into the Game world of Magic and Dwarf Forges. This will probably be found either appealing or abhorrent. That should be said because this Issue is omnipresent beyond a few Side Quests at most.
Almost everything in Pillars of Eternity revolves around the Theme of "Animation," something like ' Soul technique ', ' soul transplantation ', ' Replaning ', etc.). You get bumped into it almost from the Beginning and it's the Main Theme of the whole Game world. The Settlement, its Opportunities, its Abuse are the social Theme of the eastern Continent on which history takes place. The Player can't help but grapple With leading Countless Dialogues to make moral Decisions, to position himself to do so, too.
Of Course, ' Animacity ' is just one Element of a Fantasy story, but it is built on the Concept of the Soul from the ancient Philosophies of our World. This Game is Phantasy-but the Plot has a mental Sign. With a hard atheist View of the world, you should enjoy this Game less Than you do with a somehow spiritual one. For example, soulless Children are born in some Regions of the Game world. If one believes that Soullessness is quite normal and that only Cellaps walk around mechanically, it will be difficult to put yourself into the Game World in many Places. One can say without Exaggeration: With the Szientist view of the world In Fashion today, which denies existence that cannot be counted or weighed or measured, essential Parts of the Game's History will seem pointless (not to be confused with Unrealistic). A certain Amount of ' Soul Theory ' is definitely helpful in this Game, otherwise the Story and The Dialogues are quickly quite hard Rusks.
The writing is okay, the gameplay is classic and nothing to be surprised with.
However, I think some drawbacks come from crowdfunding, like I never liked that stronghold idea. Building new objects is quite useless as a feature and it doesn't add to the game in the sense of the story. However, I understand that this was put as a goal on Kickstarter, so this feels very laborious. There are some other moments in the game that feels unnecessary.
So it is definitely a must have if you fancy a traditional cRPG, but for all others I doubt this will be a good experience.
However, I think some drawbacks come from crowdfunding, like I never liked that stronghold idea. Building new objects is quite useless as a feature and it doesn't add to the game in the sense of the story. However, I understand that this was put as a goal on Kickstarter, so this feels very laborious. There are some other moments in the game that feels unnecessary.
So it is definitely a must have if you fancy a traditional cRPG, but for all others I doubt this will be a good experience.
«Disappointment of the year»
The game is exactly what is promised. If you are fan of old-style RPG like Baldur's Gate or Icewind Dale, then you will definitely feel yourself at home. PoE does not reinvent the genre or at least bring some new ideas to the table, it is what it is, a classic gameplay with fancier modern graphics and a new solid story and setting.